The DIY Localization Trap: Why AI and JSON are Not a Strategy

In the era of LLMs, it’s tempting to think that localization is a solved problem. The logic seems simple:

“I’ll just send my JSON files to an AI, script the merge, and I’m done.
Why do I need a platform?”

We see teams try this every day. Some of them leave Locize to build their own "autopilot" or move to self-hosted "free" tools.

But there is a hidden cost to "free" and "DIY" that only reveals itself when your project actually starts to succeed.

1. The Maintenance Tax (Self-Hosting)

When you choose a self-hosted tool like Tolgee, you aren't just choosing a tool; you are choosing a new job.

• Who manages the database scaling?
• Who ensures the CDN is globally redundant?
• Who handles the security patches and version updates?

Self-hosting is only "free" if your developers’ time is worth $0. Every hour a senior dev spends fixing a localization database is an hour they aren't building your product. Locize is a managed infrastructure - we handle the "boring stuff" so you can stay in your IDE.

2. The Context Collapse (AI-only)

AI is a powerful translator, but a terrible librarian. If you send a raw JSON file to ChatGPT, it doesn't know if "Drive" is a verb (Drive the car), a noun (The hard drive), or a location (Memory drive).

Without a TMS like Locize providing context, screenshots, and glossaries, your AI translations will eventually "hallucinate" or drift in tone. Locize provides the governance that AI lacks. We don't just translate; we try our best so the AI obeys your brand's rules.

3. The Deployment Friction

Localization is a workflow problem, not a language problem. If your team is still committing translations to Git, you are slowing down your release cycle.

• Manual PRs: For every typo fix, a developer has to review a PR?
• Syncing Issues: What happens when two translators edit the same file simultaneously?

Locize automates these workflows. In the last month alone, our average customer automated hundreds of engineering tasks that would have otherwise required a manual code commit and deployment.

4. The "Finished Project" Fallacy

Many users think, "My project is done, I don't need Locize anymore." Localization is never "done." A month later, you add a "Forgot Password" link, and the cycle starts over.

This is why we built the Pause Feature. Instead of deleting your history and breaking your workflow, you can hibernate your project with an 80% discount. Keep your your data safe, without paying for "active" management features you don't need right now.

The Bottom Line

"DIY" and "AI-only" setups work for a weekend project. But for a professional product, they are technical debt waiting to happen.

We built Locize to be the invisible infrastructure for i18next and modern web apps. We provide the stability, the audit trails, and the delivery network that a script simply cannot replicate.